


Dead Eyes

by sadisticeternity (orphan_account)



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, No Spoilers, just a lot of angst really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 11:43:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11417247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/sadisticeternity
Summary: They never saw it coming. One moment Akira had been laughing at a joke Ann was telling, eyes bright with youth and vitality. The next moment his eyes widened and he glanced down in time to see the blade erupting from his chest.





	Dead Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> AU where Joker dies in Mementos. Heading there without Morgana generally turns out to be a bad idea.
> 
> Note: This takes place sometime between Madarame's palace and Kaneshiro's.

It was a mistake to leave Morgana behind, saying that they “just wanted an extra challenge” and that it would be fine, no problem. They even promised to buy him sushi after they got back.

 

They never saw it coming. One moment Akira had been laughing at a joke Ann was telling, eyes bright with youth and vitality. The next moment his eyes widened and he glanced down in time to see the blade erupting from his chest.

 

What happened next was all a blur. There was screaming, and red, oh so much red. Then Akira was on the floor, cradled in Yusuke’s arms. The artist briefly registered that Akira was talking, but his mind refused to make sense of it all. Ryuji and Ann were occupied, Ryuji hacking apart the remaining shadows with a rage that rivaled that of the burning sun. Ann, well, she _was_ that burning sun, taking those that Ryuji had missed . . .

 

\- - -

 

"Please," he said, reaching for Yusuke's hand, the blade protruding from his chest; crimson staining his shirt, mingling with the red of his gloves. "Promise me, Yu...suke..."

"Stop talking like that. You...you're gonna make it, Joker..."

A harsh laugh. "You...think so." He coughed, red staining his lips.

Akira reached for Yusuke, cupping his chin in one of his hands, the other pressed to his chest. "I'm sorry...I...never..." He coughed again, blood splattering onto the floor. "I'm sorry I never got to tell you."

"Akira..."

"I liked you, Yusuke. I..." He shuddered, wracked with one last bout of pain. "I...Damn it..."

And the he went limp, unable to finish what he had deemed most important to choose as his dying words.

"Joker, you...Code names...Joker, wake up!" Yusuke shook his friend, trying to wake him from this accursed slumber. "I know you're in there. Wake up, damn you! Wake...up..."

Covered in Akira's blood, Yusuke extracted the blade and pulled his friend's corpse to his chest in a wounded embrace. He shook, clutching his body like a lifeline. "Now...is not the time to be sleeping! Joker!"

A mad laugh escaped him. "You're just sleeping...aren't you?"

"Fox..."  
He looked up to find Ann and Ryuji standing there, frozen; Ann reaching out as if she meant to touch him, to make sure he was okay. She was crying too, silently gasping as if searching for breath that wasn't there.

"Damn it!" Ryuji shouted, rage twisting his face into something dark and frightening. "I should've been able to save him! I was _right there_!"

Laughter. Mad, wild laughter from Yusuke, still clutching Akira's now-cold body as if it held all the answers.

Ryuji stepped back, his eyes angry and concerned and afraid. "Fox...?"

Yusuke gently laid the body down, arranging it as if it were only sleeping. He was laughing madly, tears running down his face and dripping onto Akira's neck. "He's just tired...He'll wake up any moment now, won't he?"

"He's not waking up." Ryuji gently touched Yusuke on the shoulder, tentatively, as if scared the artist would lash out. He was shaking.

They led Yusuke out of Mementos, the artist staring straight ahead with dead eyes. Ryuji carried the corpse, gently, his eyes wet, shoulders shaking.

"I'm sorry, Akira," Ryuji murmured. "I'm...a bad friend, aren't I?"

Ann was silent. She walked a distance from the others, unable to speak, unable to feel. Unable to repay her debt to the boy who saved her life.

Who had saved all their lives.

And gave his own in return.

 

\- - -

 

The sun still dawned the next day, bright and pink and golden as a lover’s ring. The artist opened the curtains and stood there, looking out at it with cold, dead eyes.

 _I should paint it,_ he thought.

Yusuke Kitagawa never spoke again.


End file.
